Giuseppe de Luca
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Giuseppe de Luca, an Italian baritone, was born in Rome in 1876 and died in New York in 1950. His debut was at Piacenza in 1897, singing Valentin in Gounod's Faust.
He sang at La Scala from 1902-1910, and made his Covent Garden debut in 1907. He moved to America where he became the leading baritone at the New York Metropolitan Opera for twenty years, from 1915-1935, also returning to the house from 1939-1940. After his retirement he taught voice at the Juilliard School.
De Luca is notable for creating two Puccini roles: Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (La Scala, 1904) and the title role in Gianni Schicchi (Metropolitan, 1918). He also created the Marquess in Massenet's Grisélidis, Michonnet in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, Prince Alexis in Giordano’s Siberia, and Sancho Panza in Massenet’s Don Quichotte opposite Feodor Chaliapin.
Toscanini is said to have called De Luca, "absolutely the best baritone I ever heard"[1]. He was praised in a wide range of roles, from buffo to bel canto to Verdi. However, after some early forays into Wagner in his days at La Scala, he sang only in Italian and French. His career is well-documented in recordings, many with such other great singers of the Met's golden age as Enrico Caruso and Rosa Ponselle.
[edit] References
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music, ed. Michael Kennedy, 3rd. edition, 1980
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